For You
by Red Quartz
Summary: Max is at death's door, and it's all up to Kai. MaxKai Oneshot


Max walked quietly down the path. The night air was uncomfortably still. And warm. Max felt uneasy, but chided himself for it. 'C'mon, Max!' He told himself, 'It's a nice night! Enjoy it!' The stars were clear and bright, though the moon was new. Max stared up at them, and began to think.

He was coming home from Tyson's, were he, Rei, Tyson, Hilary, and Chief were all hanging out. (Well, they were supposed to be discussing Beyblading, but no one seemed to be able to stick to that topic.) Kai had scoffed at the idea when they asked him to stay. Max had been just a little disappointed. Just a little, because Kai wasn't really ever expected to stay, though he had looked like he might have for a split second.

Max turned around and saw what little distance he had made from entering the park. (A detour he seldom took) He must've slowed his pace as he had begun to think. Max tried to pick it up, but he slowed once more as his mind began to wander.

Max mentally stepped back and looked at his team. He thought about Rei, who was an all-around good-guy. He was calm, quiet, and sturdy, but he could have fun, too. He knew when to be serious, and when it was okay to laugh. He was an excellent blader a good friend, too.

Tyson was a fun guy. In a way, despite his routine of over sleeping and over eating and complaining, he was unpredictable. He always had a good, honest word to put in, and he ALWAYS had to put his word in. But usually Max had the most fun with him. Tyson maybe the best of them, as far as Beyblading goes.

Lastly, Kai. He, like most others, considered himself a cold, rude person. But Max, Rei, and possibly Tyson knew better. Kai cared for them, in a way. At first it was only as a team, as he made them get up and train hard and often. The longer they were together as a team, the more care he showed, though he'll probably deny it though to the day he dies. If Tyson wasn't the best blader, Kai was.

But, there was more to Kai. Rei and Tyson respected his demand for distancing, but Max didn't give up on attempting to befriend him. He felt a certain… attraction to Kai, though he was positive that the emotion was one-sided. Max sighed and rubbed his arms. He had Goosebumps, seeing that the foreboding he had experienced earlier was returning.

Unbeknownst to the blonde, Kai himself was napping lightly in the bushes nearby, where he had gone after refusing his team's offer to stay at Tyson's. Well, it had been Max's offer. No one else had apparently wanted him there, so he snorted a "Yeah, right." And left. He glanced back quickly to see Tyson shrug. Yeah, no one wanted him there. But he did catch a glimpse of Max's face, and he almost felt bad for being so curt. Almost.

Kai had been thinking about the look on Max's face all night, actually. He had just recently gotten to sleep, as light as it was. He had though angrily about how infuriatingly bad he felt. Well, he didn't feel **that badly**, but for Kai, it was still infuriating. Why would that stupid little foreign boy's feelings affect him in such a way?

Kai had, somewhere along the line, noticed how helpless Max sometimes was. And it irked him, as if Max should be protected, and no one was doing it. At one point that night, while thinking about it, Kai had yelled loudly out of frustration. Why did he feel like this? It made no sense. But now he was lying, breathing slowly, and possibly dreaming. He awoke after about a half hour of rest, but kept his eyes closed. A bird fluttered off suddenly. He opened his eyes a little, and sighed. He would have to go home soon.

Max kept walking, passing benches, swing sets, and mini street lamps. Max stopped directly under one lamp, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking around, Max saw nothing. He was about to continue, when he heard a twig snap behind him. He whirled around too see someone, about his size, charging him. The kid wore all black, including gloves and a ski-mask- a stereotypical bank robber. Before Max could respond, the boy collided with him, forcing him down.

Max fell back, hitting his head hard on the dirt path, and the boy landed on him. He winced, winded, and tried shoving the kid off of him. Max had about gotten him off, when he felt two hands grab each of his arms, forcing them down roughly. The two newcomers were dressed the same as the first.

Max struggled against the three people suppressing him, but the two holding his arms down where bigger than the boy who tackled him, who was on top of him. Max squirmed, and received a fist shoved into his gut in return. Max still squirmed, so one punch became several.

One more guy appeared, and he began to search the blonde teen's pockets. Max kicked, making contact with one of the men. Someone forced his legs down (presumably the last guy) and Max found that this guy was _much_ heavier than any of the others. The big guy must've unintentionally pushed the youngest of the group (the one who had tackled Max), because he lost his balance. Whoever was suppressing his legs was putting too much pressure on them.

Max heard a loud _crack_, and pain shot up his leg. Another crack followed, and another pain engulfed his chest. Max's lips parted, and a loud scream tore from his throat. He then coughed, tasting blood.

Kai had heard shuffling of the struggle from the bushes about six yards away, but decided not to get involved. Then he heard Max's scream, and he recognized the voice, though wasn't sure exactly who's it was. Something in his chest gave a funny jerk, which he would have wondered at, but he sat up and looked around before he thought anything of it.

He saw the four thugs on the ground, one beating on something. Then he saw Max's blonde hair, and his green shirt. And blood. His chest felt funny, and his thoughts raced. Before any definite conclusion came to mind, and before he had even realized it, Kai was up and running at full speed to his teammate's aid. Without slowing, he lunged at the largest person, who was on Max's legs, taking him down. They rolled down a small hill, and the man, who was at least a head and a half bigger than Kai (and quite bulky), landed on him. All the air left the Kai's lungs.

The man was on his feet quickly, and he kicked the still-down Kai hard in the stomach. Kai winced, but he still caught the next foot aimed at him, held on to it, swiveling himself to a position directly beneath the man, and gave a very hard, well-aimed kick at his crotch. The guy grunted, and doubled over. Kai kicked him backwards, and leapt up to look for Max. He saw his blonde teammate still lying on the ground, coughing up more blood, eyes shut. Apparently, he was still conscious, but maybe not.

Two of the thugs had gotten up, releasing Max's arms, and were heading in Kai's direction. One had a switchblade. The last person, the smallest one that had tackled Max, had taken up the job of digging through the blonde's pockets. Max moved a little, and received a harsh kick.

Kai's eyes widened, and his heart seemed to stop. Now he was wondering why he felt this way every time he witnessed Max get hurt. Had it been Rei or Tyson… no, wait… that was it. It had to be. Rei or Tyson wouldn't have had this problem. They were physically stronger. Kai just saw a helpless kid beat up so badly. That was all.

That _was_ all, right?

Kai hadn't noticed that he'd spaced out, or that the two thugs had gotten so much closer. Until, that is, the unarmed man's fist made contact with Kai's face. Kai stumbled back, have had been caught off-guard. But he quickly struck back. Kai was well built and relatively strong. The guy fell back and Kai jumped on him and kept up the barrage. Kai had forgotten the other man, who had the switchblade.

Suddenly, just as he drew back for another punch, Kai felt a piercing pain shoot through his body, radiating from between his shoulder blades. He yelled and went limp. He slumped off the man, and the two of them went to check on their bigger friend, who was still crumpled on the ground.

Max's eyes shot open at the sound of Kai's scream. He turned his head and saw Kai on the ground, a small pool of blood collecting near him. Something forced Max up. Trying to ignore the pain in his chest and leg, he used the streetlamp to lean against as he pulled himself off the ground. It began to rain, just slightly. Max froze when he heard a small click. Looking up, Max saw the boy who'd first tackled him aiming the barrel of a pistol at him. A pause between the boys followed, and the rain fell a little harder. Max considered. The boy was trembling. It wasn't likely that he'd really do it.

Of course, none of the thugs believed he'd ever do it when they'd given it to him.

After regaining himself, the biggest guy got up and joined his two buddies. They all three turned to Kai, who was struggling to his feet. The largest thug grabbed the blunette, with two hands, by his bare neck. Kai couldn't breathe. Blood soaked most of his clothes in the back, and a line of it connected his heel with the pool on the ground.

The man laughed a little at Kai's helplessness "You, **_punk_**, are gonna be sorry that you ever-"

**BANG**

He dropped Kai, who gasped for breath and from pain as he hit the ground hard. The other three stared, wide-eyed, at the kid. The boy started shaking violently, and he dropped the gun as if it burned his hand. From the ground in front of them, Kai looked anxiously to Max, who had fallen forward on the dirt path. All four thugs fled.

Kai, trying to ignore the pain in his back, got up and rushed to his blonde teammate. He gingerly turned Max over, to find his shoulder drenched in blood. Kai could hear ragged breaths, though he thought, for a moment, that they may be his own.

To be sure, Kai searched for a pulse.

He found one.

Max was alive. For now. Kai carefully wrapped his teammate's shoulder in his scarf, making sure that it was tight enough to stop the blood flow. He positioned Max's knees and back under his normally sturdy arms, but he shook with pain from the stab. Upon trying to lift the blonde, Kai's back screamed with pain, and his mouth almost followed suit. But he managed to suppress, and it came out a pained groan. He stopped, panting, and then grimaced determinedly. He lifted Max's limp body, trying to shut out the objections of his own. He made it about two yards before falling to his knees.

"No… Keep going…" He told himself, and lifted one knee, placing his foot on the ground. Both teens were soaked from the rain. He got back up, Max still in his arms. He watched Max's face as he walked. He watched the boy's details carefully: his pink lips, which were parted for breath, his hair that stuck to his wet face, his eyebrows, furrowed in a painful grimace… Kai shook his head. What was this? Why was he thinking about these things, and…why now?

Kai had made considerable distance before his legs gave in again, and it had begun to occur to him that most of the moisture on his back probably wasn't water. How much blood was he losing?

His pant leg tore and he skinned his knee as he landed roughly on his forelegs. He noticed Max's uneven breaths halt. Kai watched him, his heart wrenching so much that the feeling left his chest and traveled through his body. It reached his head and his vision blurred with…tears?

No, of course not. It was the rain. Kai never cried.

But Max did stop breathing. And his heartbeat quickened… then began to slow. Kai was growing desperate and scared- yes, _scared. _"No…" Kai's voice cracked. No! Max was…

Max was _his_ teammate…

He was the…

What?

Max was…

The object of _his _affection…

Max was his. And no one else's. Not even death's. Kai stared at Max's features, then dipped his head, but hesitated inches over his face. After a short moment, Kai continued and his lips met Max's. This way, even when the warmth of life left the blonde's body, the entire world would know. Everything and everyone would know that Max belonged to _Kai_. And no one else could claim him.

Kai's lips left his teammate's…and Max coughed. Kai's heart leapt. "M-…Max…? Max!" Kai voice was hoarse. Apparently unable to speak, Max nodded ever so slightly. Kai sighed and smiled. He didn't deny his tears to himself anymore. He let them flow.

But Max's breath came shorter and more labored with each one. He was trying to live. And Kai had to try for him, as well. He mentally snapped at the pain in his back as if it were a child whining for attention. He got to his feet and stumbled on until he saw dim lights above the horizon. Who knew how late it was, but Kai found that Tyson's dojo was the source of the light, so someone there had to be awake.

Kai staggered up to Tyson's door. Someone must've heard him, because the door opened. Kai's vision had gone dark a good three seconds beforehand, so he couldn't see who was there, but he knew the voice when Rei exclaimed, "Oh my god, Max! Kai? What happened?"

"He… uhh…" was all Kai could manage. He couldn't feel his legs. He heard more feet, Tyson exclaiming something that Kai couldn't comprehend, and he heard Hillary's gasp. Max's body was lifted from Kai's arms. He wanted to protest, to take his Max back. But Kai was gone before he hit the floor.

"Kai!"


End file.
